Lockwood Farm - Week One

Sunday 8th, day 60

It took about an hour and a half (and two transfers from bus to Skytrain to bus) to reach the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen, a little over thirty kilometres south of Vancouver in the agricultural flatlands of Delta. Apparently it's the biggest ferry terminal in North America. The bus became surrounded by fog very suddenly as it neared the three-kilometre-long causeway, that juts out into the Strait of Georgia and leads to the terminal - but because the rest of the sky was for the most part clear, and the road is flanked on both sides by water, it created a wonderful glowing whiteness that I happily marvelled at. It cleared just as suddenly about five or ten minutes after the ferry left the dock at 3:15pm, and the straight line of cloud was visible sitting on the water behind us as we emerged into sunshine. I arrived two hours later at Duke Point, Nanaimo, where Cammy met me, and we took the scenic route back to the farm, where James had a simple dinner ready for us, of carrotts, beans, corn and little Ukranian potato-filled pastries called perogies. After clearing up, we watched Amelie (I'd never seen it... it's good, but strange) and had some homemade blackberry ice-cream.

Monday 9th, day 61

We met for breakfast at 8am, then James gave me a tour of the farm and introduced me to his dad before we started the Monday tasks. Cleaning eggs, for the most part by myself, took until around 4pm so I helped Cammy with dinner after that. It was Thai shrimp soup, from a packet mix they bought from one of their market friends, and we ate outside with James' parents. It was so delicious!

Tuesday 10th, day 62

The morning was spent harvesting, washing and bunching radishes. Lunch was salad with tuna, banana, peanuts and cheese, which sounds odd but was really good, and after that I sorted and bagged basil then salad leaves. We ate barbecued steak with potatoes and salad for dinner, outside again with James' parents and nephew, and after cleaning up watched "Oz the Great and Powerful".

Wednesday 11th, day 63

I weeded coriander then rocket for a couple of hours before leaving with Cammy for Duncan, a town about ten minutes north, where we picked plums, pears and apples in the garden of the house they rent out. Dinner was scrambled eggs with tomato and basil, made by me, followed by leftover Thai soup. After clearing up, Cammy and I made jam with the profusion of plums we'd harvested, and didn't finish 'til 11pm.

Thursday 12th, day 64

Planting seedlings into the ground was today's task. It was quite nice, simple, but uncomfortable: like weeding, it involves a lot of leaning or crouching down. Thursday is bread pick-up day so there were some cinnamon scones which went amazingly with the plum jam. For lunch we had freshly-made egg mayonnaise sandwiches and a cold fruit smoothie. Cammy's extended family came over for dinner, which was chicken roasted with rosemary potatoes, accompanied by salad and extra sides brought by the guests. One of them had bought a couple of rhubarb-and-strawberry pies at a bakery in the town of Ladysmith, for dessert. Oh they were ever so yummy! After cleaning up and everyone had left, we went out to the workshop to process some of the chickens that had been sent to the abattoir on Tuesday. They'd been plucked before being returned to the farm, so were as you see them in shops, ready to roast. James and Cammy briefly showed me how to cut it up and remove each part (thighs, breast, wing, legs) but it did take me over an hour and a half to do just one, haha!

Friday 13th, day 65

An hour and a half of cleaning eggs preceded the harvesting, washing and bunching of radishes until lunch. I spent the afternoon finishing the radishes, bunching kale and chard, and picking edible flowers for the salad mix. James' mum cooked dinner so we ate next door, before finishing market prep until about 9pm.

Saturday 14th, day 66

I went into Duncan with Cammy and, while she helped James' dad on the market stall, took the opportunity to go to the supermarket and buy some cold-weather tops (there isn't a clothing section in Safeway and there are so many clothes shops in Vancouver I don't know where to start). For lunch I bought some kushari from one of the market vendors; it's an Egyptian dish of rice, pasta and lentils covered in a spiced tomato sauce and topped with crispy fried onions and a garlic-cumin dressing. It was amazing! I've already looked online for a recipe, but I should have asked them what was in the sauce. I bought muesli and an oat-seed-fruit-choc cookie from the bakers' stall next to the Lockwood one. James returned from Victoria in the evening with Maxi, and we had a late but tasty dinner of pasta with pesto, leftover chicken, tomatoes and parsley, followed by rhubarb-and-strawberry pie. Then she and I had our 'initiation': balancing eggs on the table. I managed to get only one standing upright, but Maxi had ten or eleven!

Sunday 15th, day 67
The family went to church in the morning, so Maxi and I read for a few hours before I gave her a short tour of the farm and we played with Enzo for a while before they got back around lunchtime. Reading occupied the afternoon as well until dinner, which was pancakes with cream, raspberries and syrup - they make a point of having breakfast for dinner sometimes, because they don't have time in the mornings to make nice things like that. We watched Stardust before bed.